In recent years, the popularity of the combat game known as “Paintball” has increased dramatically. In one form of this game, players on two teams are each supplied with a paintball marker and a number of paintballs, that is, rounds of ammunition. The paintballs usually comprise a spherical gelatin or similar shell filled with a non-toxic, water-soluble, biodegradable paint. Paintball markers fire these paintballs using compressed gas as a propellant. These gas-propelled balls strike players and rupture, and in so doing, “paint” the target player and provide dramatic evidence of the hit, without substantially injuring the player.
A typical firing cycle of a paintball marker begins by a user manually cocking a bolt in the breech of the marker rearwardly, creating an opening through which a paintball from a loader in communication with the marker is able to fall, under the force of gravity, into the breech. Once the paintball is in the breech, the bolt slides forward to contact the paintball. When the trigger is pulled, a valve is momentarily opened releasing compressed gas through the bolt into the breech, forcing the paintball out of the barrel of the marker.
Semi-automatic paintball markers operate typically operate using a “blow-back” method wherein a first source of compressed gas discharges the paintball and a second source of compressed gas operates to return the firing mechanism to a ready -to-fire position. Such devices, however, require considerable compressed gas to fire and recoil the mechanism of the gun. An example of such a marker is shown in U.S. Publication No. 2004/0144377 to Dobbins, herein incorporated by reference, and shows a bolt that reciprocates using the compressed gas. Furthermore, such complex firing devices are often difficult to operate and maintain and often suffer breakdowns after extended periods of use. Paintball markers have also been developed that are automatic, i.e. fire repeatedly when the trigger is held back without manual recocking. The advent of automatic paintball markers has resulted in an increase in “ball chop.” Ball chop occurs when the bolt moves forward towards the paintball while the paintball is only partially within the breech. The result is the ball is cut or smashed within the breech of the marker, fouling the paintball marker often entirely disabling it, effectively ending a player's game.